A conventional configuration for tightening footwear is the configuration of using shoelaces to tighten the footwear from an instep part covering an instep to an ankle opening. This configuration for tightening using shoelaces is often employed, for example, in footwear designed to have an upper covering part higher than the ankle, such as snowboarding boots.
This configuration for tightening using shoelaces, however, requires great strength to tighten the laces sequentially from the toes, and considerable time to tighten up the laces from the toes to the shin in footwear having an upper covering part reaching the shin, such as snowboarding boots. Tightening up the shin portion also loosens the toe portion, making it difficult to tighten the footwear tightly.
Therefore, a conventional snowboarding boot has been proposed in which an instep part and a shin portion can be adjusted separately to prevent loosening by disposing separate tightening configurations using shoelaces for the instep part and the shin portion of the boot, and disposing lace restraining means on each shoelace enables the lace restraining means to be used to readily prevent loosening of the shoelaces (Patent Document 1).
The present applicant also invented and applied for Japanese Laid-open Patent Publications Nos. 2008-194223 (Patent Document 2) and 2009-89902 (Patent Document 3), whereby troublesome tightening can be performed readily and quickly.